Traveling bucket excavator.



M. G. BUNNELL. TRAVELING BUCKET EXCAVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED m. I. 1913.

' 1,289,108. Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

ZW77/W55/65' 1 mm"; pnsns cov. rnamurha. wunmnou. n c.

M. s. BUNNELL.

TRAVELING BUCKET EXQAVATOR'. APPLICATION men MAR. 1, 1913.

1 ,289, 1 O8 Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

3 SHEETS SHE ET Z,

o Jaw 1' cf v 'Z% i M. G. BUNNELL.

TRAVELING BUCKET EXCAVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I. 1913.

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Patented Dec. 918.,

UNITED OF C MORTON GJBUN'NELYLLOIF: CHICAGO, ILLINoIs AssrGNon .TO r'nnnn'nrox c. AUSTIN 9F orircneo, ILLINOIS.

' 1 TRAVELING BocKE'r nxcnvn'ron,

To all whom. it may concern Be itknown thatrI, MORTON GWBUNNELL, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and resident of Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Traveling Bucket Excavators, of which the following is a specification. 1

My invention relates to excavators ingeneral, but more particularly to those for use inconstructing ditches for drainage pur poses, and especially those in which the ex cavating apparatus comprises a runway extending transverselyiof 'the ditch, together with an endless series of fbuckets traveling on said runway, from one side of the dltch to the other, whereby the dirt is taken from one sloping'bank of the ditch and carried across and up the other. bank and discharged at one side'thereof. m v

Generally stated, the object of'my invention is to provide an improved and highly character. I l v p IA special object is to provide an excavaefficient excavator of the foregoing general tor of that kind in which an endless series of buckets is arranged to travel transversely of the ditch, and in which means are provided for enabling the excavator to move ahead while the buckets are atthe' bottom of the ditch, thereby rendering it unnecessary to repeatedly raise and lower the run: way upon which the bucketstravel, the'excavating apparatus being capable of a pro gre'ssive cutting away of the dirt in a horizontal direction, by the forward movement of the body upon which the apparatus is mounted, as well as a downward progressive excavating action,and whereby a ditchwith sloping banks is produced by simply lowering the, excavating apparatus until the maximum depth of the dit"h is reached, and by then moving the machine forward while the transversely arranged runway and buckets traveling thereon are down in the ground.

Another object is to provide an improved construction and arrangement whereby, in

- an excavator; of this particular character,

each bucket is provided with a movable wall for expelling the load,'and with operating means adapted to engage a stop onthe runway, when it is desired'to dump the load, of such character that as soon as theload is dumped. the bu'ket will pass under the, said stop, whereby it is possible to arrange a verse their movement and move ciples of my invention.

" Specifi at n of Ltters Patent; Patented Dem-31, 1918. Application filed March l,1913." Seria1No.751,414.

eling motion in one direction only, as distinguished from the buckets heretofore employed forthis'purpose, and which do not continue moving forward after reaching the dumping position, but to the contrary rebackward to l in the opposite direction. I

Another object isto provide an improved construction and arrangement whereby, in the use-of a'machineof this general character, the ground ahead, of the excavator may; be prepared and reduced to a. level road-bed for the machine to travelover, thus making it possible for the excavator to be 7.0

y d n igging a ditch on the side of It is also an objectto provide certain details and features'lof improvement and combinations tending toincrease the general 7 3 efliciency and serviceability of an excavator of this particular character, In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 'is a 'side elevation of an vexcavator bucket embodying the principles of 8 my invention. Fig.' 2 is a plan of the bucket'and'adjEacent parts of the sprocket chains shown in ig.1.- Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate" different sizes of the cutters which are: combined with the, bu'kets in an excavator embodyingthe prin- Fig. 5 is a side elevation, of a moreor less diagrammatic charactenof a side hill excavator embodying the principlesof my invention. i l r Fig. 6 is a detail showing a modification of'the constru tion shown in Fig. 1.

Fig; V7 is a rear elevation of the machine shownin Fig.5.

Asjthus illustrated, and referring more particularly .to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, an excavator constructed in accordance with my invention, comprises apair of endless sprocket chains a, which are spaced apart to 'accommodatethe buckets Bvbetween them.

As the said buckets are all alike, a descripr tion 10f" one will besufiicient for all. As shown, the bucket-B has a lower cutting edge v or lip 1) extending across the bottomof the a movable Wall 6 said well being adapted to]; .nslidetfqrw d r exp the l a rem t emouth of the bucket; For this'purposf the top of the bucket is providedwithpztrallel V :rollers a of the sprocket guide ways 6 between which the slide-101' traveler 5 is adapted toino'v'e" back? p V forth longitudinally of thebucket,-. the said iCh II iGfQIWEIId the Width of the runway, and thenellow the excavating apparatus to'again 1 sinkirito :the g'round. 'In other WOIdS, the ditch was formed by a seriesof' distinct exslide" of traveler beingprovided tirith wheels I) that travel inthe said tguide-waysllA sheave b is suitably mounted at 'the front oftthe buckehz -und'ia steel cable or other flexi- -bl"e connection 6? extends around the shea've and connects the movable end' will: Iii-with the said slide of traveler -b 'w1he 'eby backwardthe manner indicatedin dOttedlinesin Fig.

31. serves topull the sai-u gend 2 Wall forward,

thus expelling "the liiad'.- The heel ofjthe extending fc'utters b which extend eutsi de of the? sprocketychainsg*end;elso outs1de; of the runway-C seeFigsr: 5 and E71) wh ch the ti'lhuswndf in theadowuwerdifiovement travel. Pt he of theditcli." Prior my invention; it Was common for machines 0f.,,.this general class to operate downwardly "until the" buckets "reached the bottom of the ditchg but it was Ythen necessar however, to raise the runway and bu'ckts out of the groundpmove the Init- 7 5 cavztting operations, each excavating oper- Jationconsistiug merely 'of the downward v movement; of 'theexcayating' buckets While the meeh-ine was standing still; -Witl1 m movement 1 of the said slid'el'or traveler, 4 in V impr'o'vedconstruction, however, the buckets and; runway move clownWard until; they desird depth is reached, and then the mechine starts forward slowly, the buckets working steadily-ell the time, and with the :result that] the ditch isfformed by a progressive cutting away ot therdirtat the end *of' the. ditbh, this "dirt falling down from the verticelq urfee from winch it is out, mid-being' gathered up 'by' the buckets at the tiidlegsqgerig fmbuck ets," excavat o IS b i p pose, the imdewhihfisi@wid'et-thmtithe {At muwayflis 'p'referably armiged at the a suitable point in the path'of trzivel gjfl-th buckets; as at the. left in=-Fi'g.- 7, the" runway b strike as each-bucket -pEis'ses beloW e-11d arrives at? the; point offdisohurgei" fWhen thiswhapp'el-ls the slide 1 or' travelei' 79 stands,

"still-, of course; and: the hesultlthat the movablejend Wall 6 is "caused to travel faster it thanfthe :bilcliet, Fexpelling the load'.;1he.reztr ends'of the-trucks or guide,-

' ing the rezir end of the'buckt; whereby the slide 01%ztraweler h ma t' tiltibeckwz rd uihe'a'i the rear Wheels thereofcraire disengaged 'fiwoin' the rear-ends oftheguldewaysfas shown in dotted lines in 'l,-th us permitti g the sl deorutmizelerf to ass: uiuder the cross bar 0, this actlon occurring at about- 'the time: thetsthe ::niovablei end well of'the buckets are restored. to normal V bucket reaches the. mouth thereofi Infthis 50' way each bucket automatically "discharges its load when it reaches'thedumping' position; ahd -the 1H0Vilbl8 en'd walls fof; the 7 position by the pressure. of" the dirt at the mouth of the buckets, as ealch: bucketr'a'gain strikes '-tl'1'e ground: at the'ot h err side .of -the ditizhl To permit the endless series of :buc kets thus pr0v1ded :t0 ;sink gradually into the groiifidendffof the inaichine, 'as shown; more clearly in Figifl, nd the 'buckets'are provided at their fol-Ward sid s-what i to say, utlthe: sides ofthe buckets Which' face in the direction in" which the machinetru'vels,

With auxiliery utt rs E which are ,eztch fustefiedito "one of the cutters Z), 7 and Winch extend upwardly outside of the runway, in

r-a dvaneeuthereof; fandin th'ejdir'ect'iou in which *the" apparatus is moved bodily" to produce the desired-excavating operation. Theseeutters B, it will be seenare desirably 'of'z'iT-f length to' extend upwardly to the-top of the ditch, or ne rly so,' wh'ereby each cutter scrapes or shaves the entire forward end Sui-fate of the ditch in passing downward and ac oss, ja'uid then up the other side of the ditch. Thefdirt thus scraped or 1 shaved from the endof' the ditch falls downward, and is gathered upjbY-the buckets ut'the bottonroffthe' ditch; The height or length of these auxiliary l'c'utters' E; depends upon the'depth desired for the ditch, it being 'uiide'rstood'flinsomecases, that the maximum depth of the ditch will not be greater than the height ofthe' bucket, Whereas in other 'c'as'esg-as shown in Fig. 7, the depth of the ditch will be considerably greater. For this purpose e'nul'nb'er of sets of cutters E ean be provided, some long, and some short, and

by making them easily" removable; they can be put on andtakeir ofia't Will. Withthis arrangement, it Will' b'e seen; the runwaymid series of hucketstraveling thereon can be llowed; to sink gradually (into the ground, while starting the ditch; eiid when the maxi inumdepth' is reached the mechiuefcan b ls'lotvl-y startedforfiiard'," it being understood suitable traction "devices, can be employed for supporting the bodvof the machine upon the ground in advance of the'f'orward end of the ditch. WVhcn themachine starts 01% ward, thecutters E work onthe face or vertical end surface of the ditch, and the dirt that falls downward is picked up by the buckets at the bottom of the ditch. l Vith this construction,therefora it s not necessary to repeatedly raise and lower the runway and buckets, asthe torward progressive action is accom 'ahshedwhile the buckets and on the rear ends of the buckets. In such ease, the cutters G work above the runway, while the fixed cutters or heel pieces I) of the buckets are relied on to do the necessary cutting below the runway, but the result 18 otherwise substantially the same as-thatpreviously described. In practice, and for the average kind of work, the buckets are arranged about five feet apart, and this insures having at least two buckets always in the ditch. In such case, the spaces between the buckets can be supplied with as many of the cutters G as may be foundnecessary or desirable.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 7, my invention takes the form of an excavator T adapted more. particularly for use in constructing a ditch on the side of a. hill. For this purpose the front end. of the machine is provided with a runwav H having an endless series of however, is irrregular in outline, having a,

straight lower portion 72. that holds the buckets to a: straight line of travel, across the front of the machine, and with portions k and k that converge upwardly and I to one side where they come together at a considerable distan e uphill from the excavator body. At this point the runway H is provided with sprockets h similar to those of the other runway, around whi h the sprocket chains andbuckets travel. This runway H. like the other runway, is mounted for bodily up and down movement, and

the buckets of both runways are arranged to discharge on to the downhill side of the ditch, thus forming a spoil .bank at this side of suflicient height to make a ditch of the required depth. The runway H is lowered until the portion it holds the buckets at the required depth, forming 'afiflat surface or roadway'over which the machine more clearly in F 5'. Inthis way-the machine builds a level roadway ahead of itself, even when used on a' side hill, and then constructs a ditch in the rear thereof.

11; will be understood, of course, that in ig. 7 only a vfew of the buckets are shown, :f'or'convenience of illustration, and that the bukets on the two runways are exactly alike, and are arrangedat regular intervals on the sprocket chains thereof. It will also be understood that theconstruction' may be changed in various ways, without departing from the spirit of my invention, and that I do not, therefore, limit myselfto the exact construction shown and described.

and be raised and lowered by any suitable or desired mechanism. WVith the construction shown in Fig. 1, the runways can be of channel iron with the channels turned inward; but with theeonstruction shown. in Fig. Git is possible that angle irons will be more suitable for the said runways, although it is obvious that the construction of said runways can be of any character which will not intereferewith the proper working of the auxiliary cutters E and G.that is to say, which will permit these cutters to travel around in such manner as to cut the. dirt from the end wall of the ditch. As shown in Fig. 7, the auxiliary cutters E reach nearly to the ground line-that is to say, are nearly high enough to reach to the ground 'level upon which the machine travels. This enables the said cutters to carry away enough dirt to cause what little dirt remains above to cave in and tumble down to the bottom of the ditch. Obviously, however, the length of the auxiliary cutters and the proportions of the other parts of the machine, can be so regulated or adjusted that the upper end of each cutter will extend to the ground level upon which this machine travels, or even above, if such isnecessary. In practice, however, and as shown, it will be sufiicient if these cutters are large enough to cut the dirt away a substantial distan e above the tops of the bucket. whereby the dirt remaining at the top will readily, break away and fall to the bottom of the'ditch.

, Ido not limit myself to the exact construction shown and described.

The .particular construction of excavating bu ket herein shown and des"ribed is claimedin my divisional application Serial No. 847,801. filed June 29, 1914.

1 What I claim as my invention is:

1. An ex avator for making a dit h on a side hill, comprisinga body mounted to travel ahead of the excavation, and means on the rear end of said body to make a ditch as the excavator moves slowly forward, may travel as it IIIO"QS'TOI'W&I(1, as shown sothataditch of full depth is made by one i The two runways C and H can be of any suitable, known 'or approved construction,

rangedto' operate infront of said runway, said body having its forwardend provided with means operating continuously during the forward motlon" of; said bodyytojform a levelroa'd for the excavator, and: to form a slope forthe innersideof-the ditch; v

side "hill, comprising a traveling body, a

2. Anexcavator for: making a ditch on a :transversely-arranged digging apparatus at groundandextending outward and: upward at one sideof the extavator to operate on a ohil1-side,rand-to form a slope for the inner side of the ditch, and a transversely-arranged digging apparatus on the rear end of said 'body for cutting a ditch with sloping sides and to form a spoil bank at the lower side thereof. y V

'Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this 26th day of February, 1913.

V MORTONG. BUNNELL.

Witnesses? i H.- KNUDSON, J NORBY.

'Qopies of thin patent-may 13 obtained for flireeents each, layaddressing the Commissioner 0! Patents,

Washington, Dal-73" a 

